When an episode of The Ark starts off with a happy note, you just know things are going to get dark quick. Let’s take a look inside The Ark season 2, episode 11, "It Will Be Over Soon."
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for The Ark season 2, episode 11.
The episode kicks off with Ark-1 dropping out of FTL as they get to Trappist 1, the planet those on board hope to call home. They initially need to check in with any other Arks who managed to make it there, as there were supposed to be four that arrived before them.
I love the way this episode starts off with some hope. It also starts with a catch-up on the other Arks. We know there are other people heading to this planet and that it will likely sustain life. Getting here could change the whole nature of the series!
The Ark season 2, episode 11 review: "It Will Be Over Soon"
There is something big going on with Ark-1. It all starts with a reactor blowing, which injures one crew member and almost injures Alicia seriously. Trust comes in to help, and we finally see him giving credit where credit is due. He knows that Alicia wouldn’t miss something, which means the reactor blew up for another reason.
Katherine, Strickland’s missing daughter, comes up in this episode. Strickland hears from her, which immediately leades him to do some bad things. Someone comes over his comms device to tell him to switch some components in Sub-Engineering. It’s clear that this is going to cause damage, and Strickland doesn’t want to do it, but he will do anything to protect his daughter. Wouldn’t any parent consider this to save someone they love?
Strickland tries to avoid switching the components, which is when we’re reminded that there are eyes all over the ship. Strickland can’t figure all of this out on his own. He needs to alert the others, but how? How about morse code to get through to Garnet? This allows them to get to the bottom of the initial blast, which involved a threat against Maia’s brother. With all this, Garnet is able to figure out what is going on and find a way to save everyone aboard Ark-1.
There just remains the question of where Katherine is. Who has Strickland’s daughter? Of course, it’s someone on Trappist 1. We need a big event for the season 2 finale, and that fits the bill. I do worry that this is a little predictable, as we know who wants to see Trust dead and who wants revenge on Ark-1. That leads us to Kelly’s storyline.
Kelly tries to help people on the ship
Kelly has had a huge redemption arc this season. As she’s learned more about her past and the experiments that were done on her, she’s realized what she wants to do with her life. At first, she wanted to throw herself out of a space lock, but now she wants to help people.
She steps up and offers to help save injured crew member Maia with her nanites, but Dr. Marsh doesn’t allow that to happen. At first he says that he doesn’t think it will work, but really it's because he doesn't want anyone to use Kelly, whom he sees as a daughter.
We're then reminded that Kelly’s mother Maddox is likely down on Trappist 1. This could open the door to trouble. Might Maddox already be manipulating things from behind the scenes?
Garnet shows her weaknesses
Every character has a flaw or two, but we haven’t seen much from Garnet. Part of that is because she’s open about what she doesn’t know or can’t do. "It Will Be Over Soon" finally gave us a huge flaw, and it all comes down to emotions. It’s a flaw she owns, as well, and I appreciate this writing. It’s not a weakness to admit there is a weakness — you can grow when you admit it!
Garnet can’t handle the feeling of losing Spencer, and having Ian just keeps reminding her of it. At first, Ian understandably wants to talk about his feelings and what happened in the coma. But the conversation soon turns to Strickland. Ian saw Strickland in the Sub-Engineering room, but Garnet refuses to listen to him about it. Yet she does listen to Strickland when he mentions Ian snooping around.
It's only because of Brice that things change. Ian is able to get through to Brice. I love the connection that they manage to form in this episode. It also helps that Strickland finds a way to be honest. I would have loved to see Brice be able to get through to Garnet that she was wrong, but at least she does apologize for her actions in the end. She even apologizes for the way she has treated him, and she asks for some time to deal with everything. That’s something he can give her. We're left with hope for a ship I'm not quite sure I want, but I'll keep an open mind for now.
In the end, we get another episode where everyone is involved in solving the problem. Like many good episodes of The Ark, the entire crew has a part to play.
The Ark season 2 finale airs on Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 10/9c on Syfy.
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